Intrepid Program

Intrepid Research Program

What is the purpose of the Intrepid program?

Intrepid is a financial grant program for undergraduate students in
the School of Arts & Letters. The three annual grant awards provide
motivated and high achieving students with an opportunity to fearlessly
embrace their future by designing, executing and completing a boldly
original academic, creative or service project. Ideally, the project
will be interdisciplinary in nature and exemplify one or more of the
eight Goals of Franciscan Higher Education at Saint Francis University.
The project should be the apex of the student’s undergraduate academic
career.

Why is the program named Intrepid?

Intrepid means to be “resolutely courageous; fearless; bold; brave;
enduring”. Accordingly, the students selected for Intrepid will be those
who are courageous enough to go beyond their intellectual, academic or
service “comfort zone”. The successful proposal will be bold and
imaginative. The project must exceed ordinary expectations. Indeed
students must set aside any fear of failure or rejection. The students
must then resolutely complete their project by overcoming any and all
challenges and obstacles.

Why should students apply for Intrepid?

Intrepid provides students with an opportunity to fulfill an
academic, creative or service curiosity with faculty advice. In other
words, Intrepid mitigates the financial constraints that would
ordinarily prevent students from pursuing and realizing a dream. At the
same time, the students’ projects will benefit others by discovering
knowledge, creating or performing art, teaching students or serving the
community. By demonstrating the ability to design and complete a
project with minimal guidance, students can use Intrepid as a
springboard into life-long learning as well as post-graduate studies or
the workplace. Intrepid will provide evidence to others that these
students can develop an innovative project, budget funds wisely,
overcome challenges, achieve personal goals and assist others. In short,
Intrepid allows students to establish proof that they are thoughtful,
responsible, enterprising, reliant and motivated. Students who are
unsure whether or not to apply for Intrepid are encouraged to discuss
their concerns with a faculty member, the Associate Dean or Dean of the
School of Arts & Letters. The caliber of student work should be
graduate level. Download the Intrepid Application here.

How much is the Intrepid financial award?

Three (3) awards of no more than $1000 each will be bestowed annually
by the School Arts & Letters. The ceiling on the financial award
applies to joint as well as individual applications. The funds must be
utilized in full prior to the completion of the University’s financial
calendar, which is 15 June. Funds must be used for costs associated with
the project, such as materials/supplies, travel, lodging, food, rental,
printing, and equipment. Intrepid candidates cannot compensate
themselves or others from monies awarded or possibly earned from the
project. In other words, Intrepid funds cannot be used to pay awardees
wages or salaries and cannot be used for personal consumption unrelated
to the project. Students must submit all proposed expenditures and
funding requests to the School of Arts & Letters for approval.
Itemized receipts are required for reimbursement. Faculty advisors to
successful Intrepid candidates will receive a small compensation from
the School of Arts & Letters.

Who is eligible for the Intrepid program?

Full-time undergraduate students who are majoring in a discipline
located in the School of Arts & Letters (the departments of
Communications, Education; History/Political Science; Literature &
Languages; Philosophy/Religious Studies; Psychology; Sociology/Criminal
Justice and Social Work) or who have a minor in Fine Arts are eligible
to apply. Students who have a Self-designed major primarily in the
liberal arts or Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies major are also
eligible to apply. Applications from students majoring in a subject
housed outside of Arts & Letters, but who are completing a minor
located inside Arts & Letters may be considered if the proposed
project is related to their minor or is interdisciplinary in nature.
Individual students or a group of students working as a team may apply
to Intrepid. All applicants must have junior or senior year status and
have a cumulative GPA of no less than 3.25. The application process is
outlined below. Faculty may, with student consent, nominate candidates. Does
Intrepid earn credits and grades? It depends. Intrepid, itself, has no
credit value and has no grade sheet. Intrepid is a grant program
sponsored by the School of Arts & Letters. As such, students can
complete their Intrepid project as a co-curricular activity. In short,
this means that students will work outside of the traditional classroom,
credit and school schedule paradigm. Students will complete Intrepid
independently while carrying their normal semester load. Students will
still have faculty or administrative supervision. Faculty and
administrators will still evaluate the quality of the project, using a
simple scale of Pass with Distinction, Pass or Fail. Students will earn
the intrinsic reward they designed into the project rather than credits.
Intrepid will not appear on the student’s schedule, grade sheet or
transcript. The student will receive a certification of completion from
the School of Arts & Letters.

Intrepid participants may “piggyback” their Intrepid award with a
traditional class in which they are enrolled for credits and a grade. In
this case, the Intrepid award could be used to meet the requirements of
a class. The class could be a ‘traditional’ advanced-level class within
the major, but more likely, given the nature of Intrepid, the course
would be a capstone, Honors thesis, special topics, research/methodology
or independent study within the student’s major. The professor of that
class would be the Intrepid supervisor. The student’s grade in that
class would be determined solely by that professor. Intrepid
participation would have no direct influence on the class grade or the
amount of credits earned. Intrepid will not appear on the student’s
schedule, grade sheet or transcript. Assuming the student successfully
passes the course and completes the goals outlined in the Intrepid
proposal, the School of Arts & Letters will issue a certificate of
Intrepid completion.

How do students apply for Intrepid?

Candidates should first seek out an Arts & Letters faculty member
who is willing to oversee and endorse the student’s project. Faculty
members, who agree to oversee the student, will act strictly as
consultants. Faculty and students must have clear expectations about
the role each is to play in the design and execution of the project. The
roles of the student and faculty member should be explained in the
proposal. Faculty members will neither design nor undertake an Intrepid
project. The next step is for the student to write a proposal for
the project. The proposal should be no more than 500 words. The proposal
must specifically

Outline the purpose, goals, costs, execution and assessment methods of the project.

Specify why the student(s) is/are qualified to undertake the project.

Explain clearly how and why the project is original and why the project should be staged.

Detail who will conduct the project and why.

Describe how the project fits with the Goals of Franciscan Higher Education and the student’s A&L major or minor.

Designate who will benefit from the project and why.

Include an anticipated chronology of the project steps from start to finish.

Contain an assessment tool by which the student and faculty member will judge the project.

Clarify whether the project will be co-curricular or connected with a class.

Possess a clear and detailed description of the expected final
outcome of the project: for example, a research paper, painting,
exhibit, performance, service project or teaching lesson(s).

List the evidence that will be provided to demonstrate the completion of the project.

The student must submit the proposal, a Curriculum Vitae and a brief
letter of support for the project from the faculty advisor to the School
of Arts & Letters by November 14, 2014. Honors students may submit
an Honors thesis proposal—amended to include a budget--as a substitute
for the Intrepid proposal. Honors students also must include a CV and
letter of support

How will the successful candidates be determined?

A committee of Arts & Letters faculty, university administrators
and friends of the university will judge the merits of the applications.
The committee will rank the proposals based upon project originality
and feasibility, as well as adherence to guidelines. The applicants will
be notified of the committee’s decisions.

What type of projects might be funded by Intrepid?

The type of project eligible for Intrepid funding is limited only by
the candidate’s imagination. But some examples that would merit
consideration could be

A student researching Lucy Maud Montgomery who requests funding to
travel to the author’s home and archive in Prince Edward Island.

A student who, to complete an examination of the history of BP in
the Gulf of Mexico, needs travel monies to do research at the BP archive
at the University of Warwick, Coventry, England.

A student who organizes and supervises a reading clinic for unemployed adults with literacy difficulties.

A student who designs an alcohol awareness campaign on campus that features a public guest lecture by an acknowledged expert.

A student who organizes and coordinates a semester-long reading and discussion group.

A student who organizes and supervises a charity sporting or cultural event.

A student who develops a self-guided history walking trail through Ebensburg or a nature trail along the Kittanning Trail.

A student who creates a web site to guide students through their initial years at Saint Francis.

A student who requires framing for art work that will be displayed in a juried show.

A student who stages and directs a summer theatre performance written by at-risk youth.

A student who organizes tutorial sessions for elementary or secondary students.

A student who requires funding to defray the housing and living costs of completing internships located outside of the region.

A student who requires funding to defray the costs associated with a
project associated with study abroad in Ambialet, Mexico, Parma or CCSA
locations.

The project possibilities are endless, but they should be tailored to the individual applicant.

How will Arts & Letters award the Intrepid grants?

The Dean of the school will inform candidates of the standing of
their applications in private meetings in early December. The school
will then publicly announce the names of the awardees.

When and where can Intrepid projects be done? Since the application
deadline is in November, funding for projects in the 2014-15 academic
year will be available from December 2014 until June 15, 2015. Intrepid
funding can be used for local, regional, state, national or
international projects. Awardees must present itemized receipts in
order to be reimbursed by the School of Arts & Letters.

What are the legal and financial responsibilities of Intrepid?

The School of Arts & Letters is responsible only for awarding
Intrepid funds in the amounts designated by the school to successful
candidates. Students must date and sign the Intrepid contract before any
funds are disbursed. Arts & Letters will not provide funding beyond
the original amount. Students are responsible for meeting costs that
exceed the funding allowance. Students assume all responsibilities and
risks associated with projects. Students are responsible for gaining
Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval if the project involves human
or animal subjects. Evidence of IRB approval for the project is
necessary for Intrepid funding to be released.

Student responsibility and accountability to complete the proposed
project: Intrepid awardees must submit the tangible results--such as a
research paper, book, organization, video, research poster, painting,
song, sculpture, performance, etc.--of their projects to the faculty
advisor and School of Arts & Letters (either the Dean or Associate
Dean). If the nature of the Intrepid project did not result in a
tangible result per se, then the student must provide to the faculty
advisor and the School of Arts & Letters incontrovertible evidence
of fulfillment of the proposed project. For example, evidence of a
service project completion may include photographs or videos of the
event, advertisements/notices of the event, and witness accounts or
testimonials. A journal that chronicles and analyzes the planning,
execution and results of the event is an excellent piece of evidence.

Students may modify their proposal by notifying the School within
three months of notification of the award. A letter endorsing the
changes from the faculty advisor must accompany the modification
request.

Tangible evidence of completion of the project must be submitted to
the faculty advisor and School of Arts & Letters (either the Dean or
Associate Dean) within one year of the public announcement of the
award. Ideally, all projects will be completed between December and June
of the academic year in which the grant was awarded. No funds will be
disbursed after June 15. If, after one year from the award announcement,
the student’s project remains in progress, then a one year extension
may be granted by the Dean upon request. Students who fail to
fulfill their proposed project after a maximum two year period will
forfeit their Intrepid award. A student may be required to refund in
full all funds provided to the student or spent by the School of Arts
& Letters upon her/his behalf.